there is more to do than gamble. >> we spoke to some of the chefs and tracy wilkins has more on the economic impact for prince georges county. >> looking outside now if you plan to go out tonight here are the temperatures. our meteorologists say this is nothing compared to what you are about to feel in the days to come. mgm national harbor is ready to roll the dice. good afternoon, thanks for joining us. i'm pat law son. >> i'm chris lawrence. as gamblers line up, dollars. seven hours from now the casino opens the doors, tracy wilkins has been following the story from the beginning. she's live now at the casino and resort. tracy? >> reporter: it's been a long road to today but grand opening will be happening in just a few hours. there are plenty of folks who had an opportunity to take a look at the inside of this casino during what they call

out from the hotel to the restaurant to the casino itself, all building up for the grand opening. today we heard from officials talking about not only what the resort will mean to prince georges county but also the state as well. i have to tell you, mgm is doing what they said they would do. they are already delivering on the star power that this casino is expected to draw. look who we saw today. actress turned designer sarah jessica parker is here forhe opening of her boutique sjp. it's one part of the promise of major retail being a part of the resort. mgm executives promise the casino can be one-third of what the resort would offer. they said it would be a draw. that's exactly what's happening here. mgm's ceo and general manager talked about what the resort means for the state of maryland. >> this wasn't about just

this is about growing gaming revenue in maryland and bringing more people to maryland to spend their time and tourist dollars here. >> we'll bring in money from virginia and d.c. it's really a project that the state can be proud of. >> a lot of folks who fought to make this happen. there are also a lot of concerns from residents about what will happen here as the traffic starts to build and as folks stt excitement here tonight. we'll be here following everything that's unfolding including the vip party they are going to have this evening. stick with news 4 as we take you through everything you can expect for the day. live reports at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. from inside the casino. reporting in national harbor, i'm tracy wilkins, news 4. >> reporter: i'm outside national harbor looking at the traffic perspective here.

see the biggest impact because so many people will come here. it's not just roads. there are bus lines outside the casino. people waiting for buses. hopefully theirs doesn't get stuck in the traffic. you have the belt way, 95, 210, indian head highway. a lot will be going on here in the immediate outside area of the new casino. don't forget. there is not much public casino. the two closest metro stations aren't that close. branch avenue and king street all the way over in alexandra for their part the casino and prince georges county police say the plan is about movement, keeping vehicles moving. if you can coming, plan accordingly.

>> coming up at 4:30 chris gordon takes a look at people who are not interested in gambling. later this hour, hear from the man who created the theater which booked an impressive list of stars to perform. then there is the food, lots of food. we'll have some of the best dining options. we have a special interactive casino section on the nbc washington app. search mgm. >> i tell you the casino tonight better bring the heavy coat. you can't see from the picture how cold it is. >> and how cold it will get. doug, we are wrapping it up. >> winds will pick up. wait for tomorrow. it will be brutal. this picture shows it well. look at the numbers. these are the current wind

around the midatlantic. 42 in d.c. that's not bad. 39 in philadelphia. 22 in morgan town. 17 in pittsburgh. 12 the current wind chill in columbus. that's the cold air moving in across the region. we are in for a brutal day. wind chills will fall into the teens in many locations by early tomorrow. cold all the way through the day on sunday. the weekend, coldest weekend we have seen since last winter. rain on monday. another round of cold. this isn't the first and last bout of cold we got. we've got a lot more cold coming in. just the start of winter. i have much more on this. see you in ten minutes. >> i'm at the live desk with sad news. we learned about half an hour ago former astronaut john glenn died. he was the third u.s. astronaut to get into space but the first american to orbit the earth back

he was the last survivor of the mercury seven astronaut. he was in two wars as a pilot, and was a democratic governor from ohio. john kasich issued a statement calling glenn ohio's ultimate hometown hero. he went on to say glenn never strayed from his steadfast ohio roots. nasa tweeted calling glenn a true american hero. meaning to the stars. john glenn died at the james cancer hospital in columbus at the age of 95. back to you. >> that man inspired so many americans, a lot of them to go into the astronomy program. politics now. president-elect donald trump is taking a short break from interviewing potential cabinet picks today. >> he's meeting with survivors

osu students plowed his car into a crowd of people, got out of the car and started stabbing them. nearly a dozen people were injured before he was shot and killed by police. trump is expected to tap andy puzder for labor secretary. he runs hardee's and carl's jr. he's a controversial pick because he opposed raising the minimum wage. he's been fiercely critical of manyor place by the obama administration. >> trump unleashed a twitter storm, this time against a union leader in indianapolis. chuck jones criticized trump and said he exaggerated the number of jobs saved at a carrier plant there. trump tweeted jones has done a, quote, terrible job representing workers and suggested the united steel workers lower dues. today on msnbc jones said he

president-elect on the facts. hillary clinton is on capitol hill now. she's there for the unveiling of senator harry reid's portrait as he gets ready to retire. we'll keep an eye on the event and bring you more in the next half hour. a real life grinch caught in the act. >> how a neighbor helped save dozens of holiday gifts from a pair of suspected thieves. >> and the highest safety

here are four things to know as we count down to the opening of the mgm national harbor. the building rises 24 stories and has 234 guest rooms and 74 suites which include a presidential and a chairman's suite. there are 15 restaurants ranging from fast casual to f about 3,000 people. >> technology is making cars safer than ever before. if you are thinking about buying a new car you may want to pay attention to headlight safety. consumer reporter susan hogan has 2017's safest vehicles. hi, susan. >> hi, pat. today the insurance institute for highway safety released the highest safety ratings list for 2017 vehicles after five crash

vehicles as top safety picks. this year, the safety group toughened the criteria to reflect new headlight evaluation and those vehicles that meet the new headlight criteria earned what's called a top safety pick plus rating. 38 vehicles earned the top safety pick plus award for 2017. leading the list, toyota with nine vehicles, including the updated toyota honda and the acura division picked up five top safety pick plus awards and the institute says the 2017 winner's circle includes 21 models with a standard front crash prevention system with automatic braking capabilities. you can find an entire list of the safety picks. open up our nbc washington app and search top safety picks. >> all right. thank you, susan. a man dts hunt has come to a violent end. how police tracked down the man

>> and only on 4, the local woman leading the fight to change how long sex assault

the jerry sandusky and bill cosby cases have states changing the law on sexual assault, specifically the statute of

time constraint but it could die in the next few weeks. mark seagraves is talking to people in a story you will see only on news 4. >> reporter: in the months and years after the sandusky and bill cosby ca. is a statute of limitations including right here in washington, d.c. last year in 2015, council members proposed legislation that would either extend or eliminate statute of limitations here. the chairman never held a hearing and until today never met with advocates for the legislation. we talked to one woman who is one of the accusers of bill cosby and lives in the area who said she's disappointed that

>> it's not about me. it's about victims that have rights and they should be heard. the bill should come out of committee. it should become law. >> reporter: council member kenyan mcduffie said they were too busy to hold a hearing. >> i don't think the fact that you're not able to get to something during a two-year council period demonstrates whether you care or not care about a bill. >> reporter: coming up, hear more from the cosby accuser, council members and also disappointed there was never a hearing. mark seagraves, news 4. >> developing now in georgia, a gunman who killed a police officer and critically injured another is dead. he took his own life. america's police say the body was found after a 27-hour man

his location. police heard a gunshot as they surrounded the house where he was holed up. officials say he has a lengthy criminal history. >> police officers in maryland jumped into action. howard county police say the packages were stolen last night. they called 911. two patrol ofrs a minute. they nabbed the would be thieves in the truck full of stolen holiday packages. tonight howard county police will be back in the neighborhood. >> doug said it will be a cold winter. >> cold autumn as well. >> we have some of the coldest air of the season.

february. maybe march. let's show you what's happening now. we saw sunshine finally peeking through the clouds. mostly cloudy skies all day long. starting to see the sun. we are starting to see the winds pick up and the wind chill starting to be a fafactor. winds out of the west at 14. higher gusts and wind chills now in the 30s and low 40s. look at the current temperatures. look at the forecast for the beltway area. 40 degrees around 5:00. dropping down to 31. you can tell we'll continue to go farther as we make it to tomorrow morning. we did see a few to the east of the d.c. metro area.

big time up towards parts of new york. already saw one 30-car pile-up because of the snow to the south of buffalo. back to michigan, that shows you the cold air rushing over the lakes and rushing our way as well. look at these numbers. tomorrow and into saturday. 's concerned. by 8:00, winchester maybe 19. watch what happens by 11:00. down to 20 in gathersburg. wind chills in the teens.

chills as we make it out on friday. same deal for saturday. it will be a frigid day across the region. sunday also quite cold. the winds die down a little bit on saturday and sunday. it's a little bit better. a high of 39. we'll talk more about this. lauren has the latest w t snow is possible. we'll talk more about that. >> thank you, doug. they are ready to roll the dice. but there is a lot more to do with the new mgm national harbor casino other than gamble. we speak with employees about what they are looking forward to the most. >> plus a look at the new technology that helped a blind couple "watch" hairspray live

all-star cast pulling off one of nbc's most ambitious live musicals yet. it aired here on nbc 4 last night. it's nbc's fourth live musical. comcast and nbc are making it easier for the visually impaired to enjoy life broadcasts. >> last night we caught up with a couple in arlington. they were able to enjoy the musical, thanks to a special feature. >> yeah! >> reporter: here at the bridges family's house it's "hairspray" night. >> is it cool? ?? >> reporter: the singing, dancing, costumes. the bridges are catching it all. >> a royal blue suit. >> reporter: a big feat seeing neither mom nor dad can see at all. >> i am blind due to being blind

>> i went blind at 17. >> reporter: they may not get the same experience as tyler who can see but it's close. they are using video descriptive services during pauses in dialogue it is described what happened. >> during a show, a regular television show you're left wondering what's going on. whether somebody is sneaking up on somebody, pulling out a >> when the average person is watching you almost take it for granted because there are things you see, process and move on. maybe you don't even think about it. >> reporter: the service is something a lot of shows are adding. >> entertainment can be triflized. but in order to fully participate in society, having access to entertainment is something that's absolutely critical. >> reporter: it can be found under the secondary audio channel available to anyone with a tv.

turn to my friend next to me, what's happening? what was that? what's going on? what are they wearing? >> reporter: now they can sit back and enjoy the show. amy cho, news 4. >> do you like the music? ?? >> this hour hillary clinton is in washington. she's on capitol hill speaking at a tribute for requiring senator harry reid. these are pictures from capitol hill. clinton is one of several lawmakers speaking at the event after the ec unveiled. it is painted by a former member of the senator's staff. republican leader mitch mcconnell and house democratic leader nancy pelosi are also attending the ceremony. >> we are taking a closer look at the man newly tapped to take a cabinet position in the trump administration. why some climate advocates aren't happy. >> plus, the house passes an emergency spending bill but what does it mean for you?

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shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year. cable can't offer that. only fios can. now at 4:30 here is a live look outside the new mgm national harbor. we are just hours away from the grand opening. the new casino will bring much more than slot machines and gambling. it's also a resort bringing celebrity acts and world class shopping to prince georges county. >> a lot of us are in the 40s now. but doug and lauren are tracking an arctic front.

sure. we are declaring a weather alert day because of the extreme cold. first at 4:00 the house passed a stop gap spending bill to keep the federal government running beyond friday. the bill funds operations through april 28. it expedites the process for confirming some of president-elect trump's choices for defense secretary including retired general james mats and sets aside money for local programs as well. it paid museum of african-american history and culture and it will provide funds to beef up the staff at the national gallery of art which recently re-opened the east wing. the bill's future is uncertain in the senate. >> now to the transition of president-elect donald trump. and a staffing pick that generated a firestorm of criticism. general scott pruitt has been

a hoax and some call pruitt a climate science denier. steve? >> he's definitely a global warming doubter. he needs senate confirmation on capitol hill. today democrats are vowing they will not let him, in their words, bring epa to its knees. most republicans love donald trump putting scott pruitt at fight climate change. trump faces a fight with democrats. >> he's going to try to turn the epa into standing for "every polluter's ally". >> reporter: he supported oil companies. in a trump transition release he said the american people are tired of seeing billions of dollars drained from the economy due to unnecessary epa

wage fights. obamacare opponent tom price going to hhs, school voucher backer betsy de vos as education secretary. democrats charge the trump team has one mission -- >> to dismantle and under mine and destroy the agencies they are now hoping to run. >> reporter: meanwhile trump who claimed he saved 1100 jobs in indiana at carrier blasted a unioea 730. chuck jones, trump tweeted, has done a terrible job. carrier said 800 jobs were saved. 300 were set to stay in the u.s. >> i don't regret or change anything i said. >> reporter: sounding like trump who by his epa and other picks is sticking by his pledge to shake up government. democrats pledging to keep scott pruitt from being confirmed at

declare publically if they believe in global warming. from the hill, steve handelsman, news 4. >> well, the winds started to pick up. we have a little bit of sunshine out there. some areas to the west with a little bit more sunshine. that cold air ushering in rather quickly. it looks like the cold air is here to stay. at least through the weekend. we'll look at the wind at national harbor. a nice view of the mgm casino opening up tonight. hopefully nobody has to wait in line to get in. temperature 48 degrees. we are seeing a little bit of wind out there coming out of the northwest at 10 to 15 miles per hour. that will only increase as we continue through the night. temperatures are going to drop as we continue through tonight. temperatures dropping to the freezing mark feeling.

>> here they come. >> you will want to download the app before tomorrow's weather alert day. it will help you stay in the know. you can get the extended ten-day forecast where you live and any weather alerts issued for your particular area. look, we are a little bit over six hours now from the grand opening of the mgm national harbor casino and resort and the excitement is building. >> indeed it is. of course the new casino everybody doesn't gamble. what if you are not into that? chris gordon has a look at some of the other big attractions to take in there. >> good evening, pat and chris. we are standing in front of the hotel entrance here at the mgm national harbor. today, a group of vips from across maryland including governor larry hogan came here

store for everybody after the grand opening at 11:00 p.m. tonight. it is not just a casino. mgm calls it monumental. a world class entertainment venue. the a list entertainment up and down. second to none. taste and price range. >> i don't know what i expected when i gotter hoo. >> reporter: then there is the

i had a tour. got to see the spa, fitness center, restaurants and two suites. >> what impressed you most? >> i just loved everything. it was wonderful. >> that was a great look you gave us, chris. you saw a little bit of what chris showed in the piece. it is a reason people want to get to mgm harbor. what you can expect if you want to make a reservation. to make a reservation. and some people>> did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything.

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some people call it over 40 eyes. i know it well. it's when you start having a hard time reading books with fine print. >> how well we know. now there is a breakthrough procedure to correct the issue and people here are among the first to have it done. barbara harrison got a chance to watch as a renowned laser surgeon performed the procedure yesterday. the procedure is called

your close-up vision. today barbara talked to a local ophthalmologist about who is the best candidate for getting it done. >> there is a safe procedure for almost everybody. they have to be screened appropriately and counciled based on their individual needs. >> yesterday the doctor performed the procedure on a patient who happens to be a dentist. she was reading within minutes of the procedure. today, she's back >> until now, we really haven't had anything that could do this within one day of someone turning around and being able to read and function and go back to take care of teeth. >> you can see the full interview at nbc washington.com. >> in other medical news a new study shows life expectancy is the lowest it's been in over 20 years. the national center for health

expected to live just over 78 years on average. that's about 1/10 of a drop since 2014. the average age for men is 76. for women, 81. although the top reasons for death remain heart disease and cancers, other causes including unintentional injury, stroke, diabetes and suicide have increased the number of fatalities. >> a firsthand look at what some are willing to do district. >> and we also have wind chills that are scooting into the area right now. it is going to get mighty cold tomorrow. tomorrow, weather alert day. the cold air filtering in.

here are four more things you may want to know as we near the grand opening of mgm national two football fields. there is gaming including games like poker and slots, of course. the facility includes bluetooth and wifi technology. there are two bar and lounge areas and a spa and salon. you can see complete coverage of the mgm national harbor in a special section of the nbc washington app. search mgm. >> while it bills itself as a

>> one of the big reasons is the food. there are countless restaurants including voltaggio brothers steak house, the first joint project by maryland chefs michael and bryan voltaggio. there is the bellagio patisserie, the brain child of sylvio bartalini. and created by son. shake shack also available. >> a he have italian -- heavy italian influence on those restaurants. it will be a venue for world class music acts. the theater seats about 2800 people. that's a more intimate setting for musicians. oh livier berj designed the theater and talked about how it will up the ante for acts across the area. >> i think the level of intimacy

the artists and the public. i think it is good to drive the competition to go further and not be complacent. it brings an interesting offer in the region. >> we have team coverage of the big opening day for mgm national harbor casino coming up at 5:00. >> and we'll have a look at the impact on prince georges county. tips to avoid traffic in the area. c app for a lot of helpful information. just search mgm. >> lots of ways to get to the grand opening this evening. you want to plan ahead for this grand opening. if you go a couple of months from now or want to take metro, the closest stops will be king street or branch avenue. after that take a taxi, ride

the bus from virginia, take the nh2 bus. from maryland take the nh1 or "the bus" and get there fairly easily. what about a water taxi? might be a fun date night. if you still want to drive, know your route. they have 5,000 spaces. no doubt they will be filled quickly. know where you plan to park and what part of the garage. enter from either side of the resort. something else to think about. what about waiting, getting off at 210 and working your way over? might be much less crowded. >> and we are going to show you here a live look at national harbor. this is the older part of the harbor, not too far from the hotel which you can see in the distance.

indoors tonight. >> i can see the flag waving in the breeze. you said you have to start thinking about wind chill. >> definitely. think about it tonight. melissa said the water taxi might be a fun date night. maybe if you cuddle up because it will be chilly if you take that water taxi. get inside. maybe that's the only way to get there. hey, it won't be crowded. current wind chills, look at this. it's not too bad now. bu schennendoah valley, a frontal system coming through. we are starting to see a cooler temperature to the west. it will start to move to the east over the next couple of hours. soon enough we'll be in the 20s and 30s. current temperatures out there now. of course it feels cooler than this with the winds. boy, the winds are ramping up. as we continue through the night, temperatures dropping pretty quickly. we are going to end up in the 20s overnight.

the air temperature will be in the 20s. tomorrow morning get the kids ready for the school bus. 14 in gathersburg for the feels like. tomorrow is a weer we'll have the wind chills, rather chilly. just below, throughout your friday. once again that's why we have a storm team 4 weather alert day. the winds will settle down by tomorrow evening. i do believe we'll get more

tomorrow windy. northwest winds from 20, 25 miles per hour. maybe more. i believe they will die down. we improve on sunday with temperatures in the 40s. this weekend we'll have sunshine, especially on saturday. more clouds on sunday. it will be dry. so tree picking any day. both days will be fine. just cold. army/navy game in baltimore, fine. no precipitation or snow. that's almost unheard for the decorations. temperatures will be around 41. next chance of rain monday. a chance of a mix on wednesday. we have taken the temperatures up to the end of next week. not by much. we are stuck in the 30s on friday. >> thanks, lauren. you could spend the weekend all bundled up at home. or you could go to a resort, an indoor water park. >> we have shared some of our favorite christmas and winter get aways on nbc washington's

to tell you about heroes and helpers. d.c. police teamed up with about 100 kids and teenagers to shop for holiday gifts. some of the kids are as young as 5, some as old as 17. it took place at a target store in d.c. children and their families were paired with officers to do the shopping. >> police officers will be provided a $100 gift card for 100 children here today to go themselves and probably purchase not just a gift for themselves but maybe their brothers and sisters. >> the event is made possible by the police foundation and, of course, target. >> it is one of the hottest toy this is holiday season. hatchimals are creating a stir. folks are shelling out hundreds of dollars to get one. kevin tibbles has more on the

>> reporter: if you have kids you know this is the most popular toy of the year. and you will know everybody is sold out. tonight on nbc nightly news we'll tell you about this year's toy phenomenon. not this one. this one's mine. >> and just one it's pricy. but people are paying much more than that to put it under the tree this year. >> this year's version of the old cabbage patch kids craze. you can catch kevin's report on nightly news after news 4 at 6:00. >> how long it takes to find affordable housing in the districts and what some people are willing to do and were willing to do to get it.

tonight we are looking at the traffic concerns of the mgm

sure, you could sit around all night waiting for a pizza to be delivered.

warm up with pillsbury. at progresso, we are now using 100% atibiotic and hormone-free white breast meat chicken in all our chicken soups! behold our greatest opus! continues to improve. the labor department says jobless claims fell by 10,000 last week to 258,000. analysts say it's a good sign.

claims have been under. the longest streak since 1970. people stood in the cold for hours overnight for a chance to get an affordable apartment in southeast d.c. news 4's megan mcgrath talked to those waiting in line to get a better idea of why it was so important for them to wait. >> the sign says no lines before 8:00 a.m. a request that was ignored. affordable housing is difficult to find in the district. people hoping to get a unit and a cold and spent the night in line. >> it's very important. it is very hard to find affordable housing, especially in d.c. you know, d.c. is very high for living. >> it's hard. i have been on housing waiting lists for ten years now. >> reporter: orchard park apartments in southeast is accepting 200 applications for low income housing units. for sonia winder, getting an apartment of her own would be life-changing. >> i have been here since july

i have been to seven places, lived with seven different people. it's nothing like your own. i'm still living with someone now. >> reporter: demand is great. there are no guarantees that the long wait will pay off, especially for those at the end of the line. but those here say it is a chance worth taking. >> it's hard everywhere. the whole d.c., everybody. you see how long the line is. >> good morning! >> please have your i.d. -- >> reporter: at 9:00 a.m. the

added to the waiting list. the management group says it could take on average 12 to 18 months to actually move into an apartment. in southeast, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> announcer: news 4 at 5:00 starts now. >> we are just hours away from the big opening of the $1.4 billion dollar mgm national harbor casino and resort. >> a big deal for princege glamour to the region and a ton of traffic. we'll watch the roads from chopper 4 as we bring team coverage throughout this hour. first at 5:00, sex assault victims could be getting help. this is a story you are only going to see on news 4. the states across the country are starting to change their laws when it comes to the statute of limitations. >> here in d.c., a push to make it easier for victims to take attackers to court is going nowhere fast.

what are you hearing? >> good evening. this movement to eliminate or extend the statute of limitations on sex assaults started when penn state coach jerry sandusky was charged and it gained momentum after allegations about bill cosby began to surface. there was a law to eliminate the statute for criminal cases. a separate bill would do it for civil cases. but the man in charge of ri >> reporter: charlotte fox. the chair of the judiciary committee who met with fox and her attorney today declined to hold a hearing on the legislation.